New Tests Confirm New iPad’s Wi-Fi Issues

Despite its record sales, Apple's new iPad appears to be plagued by connectivity issues. The latest report on this matter comes from the eWeek team who performed tests in a special lab.

The first eWeek tests were performed on a Verizon iPad with support for both LTE and Wi-Fi. "Initially, the device appeared to work fine, but then a search for additional WiFi signals revealed that the iPad was unable to detect a 5GHz WiFi signal from a distance of about 50 feet," writes Wayne Rash.

Conversely, the first generation iPad performed much better under the same testing conditions. The original iPad managed to find the WiFi signal at 10 feet of the 5GHz access point.

However, connection speeds were low. iPad 2 also showed symptoms of unstable WiFi connection but the device was unable to find the access point even at a closer range than the first generation iPad.

For the new iPad. the problems are even more severe, and some of the models tested failed to work. One of the reasons for the new iPad's issue could be the incompatibility with Cisco access points used in the test.